Open Mouth, Insert Foot
by Ookami Aya
Summary: I take things in my stride. It's just my nature. But it's also my nature to talk without thinking. Their mission: regenerate the world. My mission: don't screw everything up. NO CHARACTEROC
1. Prologue

Open Mouth, Insert Foot

Prologue

* * *

"Have you finished your math?"

"YAH!" I jumped, almost dropping the controller. Pausing, I hesitantly leaned my neck backwards over the back of the couch to look at my father standing there, upside-down. "...No..."

"Then should you really be playing Nintendo?" he asked with a vaguely irritated tone.

"...No..."

"Then get off, go upstairs, and do your math."

"No want to!" I whined.

"Too bad."

"Just...just fifteen more minutes, please!" I begged, vaguely wondering if the effects of puppy-dog-eyes were negated when upside-down.

He looked at me critically before sighing. _Guess not._ "Fine. But after that, I expect you to go straight up and finish your homework." _Me: 1. Dad: 0. Oh yeah._

"Thank you, Daddy!" I exclaimed, turning up the cuteness levels. He just sighed and retreated into the office to "test the video card", as he liked to put it.

I shrugged and turned back to the TV screen to finish distributing my GRADE. _And double EXP...that does it._ I grinned at the nice amount I had left. _The next play-through after this will be seriously kick-ass. Well, more kick-ass, anyway._ I pressed the start button and sat through the introduction. In the last game, I had finally worked up the nerve to get the Kratos ending, and even though I knew it was coming, I cried when Zelos... so I resolved to get the Zelos ending this time...again.

Unfortunately, he wouldn't be showing up for a while...then again, I had Kratos, and Kratos is just awesome. I yawned. As much as I love to listen to Kratos talk, the introduction had gotten old after seeing it at least six times.

I closed my eyes, as I wouldn't be seeing anything new. I'd know the prologue was over when Kratos's lovely voice went away. I wouldn't have to start clicking 'til Raine came in... ah, the Kratos voice goes bye-bye. Now for the Professor.

- . . . -

Now for the Professor.

- . . . -

Now for the- hey, I'm kind of cold...

I opened my eyes to see...nothing. Absolutely nothing. Zip. Nada. Nil. Not even time existed there. There was no light... but no dark, either. I frowned slightly. That made no sense. Then I thought for a moment. _Light cannot exist without darkness...and darkness cannot exist without light._ So I was in a void, then. But that still didn't make a whole lot of sense. I looked down at my hands, or where they should have been, still holding the controller, which was visible, though the cord trailed off and lost itself in what would have been darkness. _Okay, for some reason, I can see the controller, but nothing else._

_Wait._

_Nope, can't see it anymore._

Before my eyes that weren't there, it had vanished, to be replaced by a...light. _Light..._ The darkness suddenly existed again, clearly trying to pretend it had been there the whole time, but I still couldn't see anything. The light solidified into small crystal orb, pale rays shooting out from it, igniting the black around me, transforming it into pure, blinding white. I squinted, and suddenly realized that I had eyes to squint with. Sure enough, my body had come back to me. My hands were still in front of me, though now between them was the orb, which began to smoothly float up and towards me, towards my upper chest...

_- . . . - _

_Where did my clothes go...? _I snickered slightly._ It's like a magic-girl implied-nudity transformation. _And indeed it was.

Oh, hey. The little orb thing seemed to be attaching itself to my chest, about an inch and a half below my collar bone. A dark, shiny, stone-like substance formed around it, like the casing around a crystal brooch. As I watched, too confused to be fascinated, runes etched themselves into the stone.

It was like...a key crest...but the sphere it contained...Exspheres didn't come in white...did they?

(description alert -->) My musings were interrupted as the light surrounding me faded into blue, with soft puffs of white here and there. Good, my clothes were back, and exactly the same: disturbingly comfy black and white tennis shoes, old-an'-comfy black jeans that pooled slightly around my ankles, covering my white socks; an oversized black t-shirt I got in sixth grade that read "You laugh because I'm different I laugh because you're all the same" in white letters (the first of my many black t-shirts that now fill my closet), and a black hoodie that was slightly too big for me, just the way I liked it. One wouldn't be able to tell with the hoodie on, but the t-shirt underneath hung loosely on my lithe figure on my bony shoulders, and revealed my skinny arms and "pianist's hands" that couldn't even play Chopsticks.

Though I obviously didn't have a mirror, I knew my features to be soft and my eyes big and brown; my very wavy dark brown hair, as dark as brown can get without being mistaken for black, fell to my waist, a thin halo of frizz around my head. I even had my usual two hair-thingies on my right wrist, used primarily for getting my hair off my neck and out of my face.

And that ends my boring description. Let's move on, shall we?

And move I began. I didn't so much move on as move down, quite rapidly. _Crap. I'm in the sky, aren't I? Well, not for much longer..._

I let out a slight grunt as I hit the ground—sand. I looked up, rubbing my head. More sand. Sand as far as the eye can see. I tilted my head backwards as I had on the couch, and this time, instead of seeing an upside-down father, I saw an upside-down...blue...thing.

My brow furrowed. _What the hell?_ And as that deep thought echoed through my mind, I was suddenly surrounded by people, conceivably identical, all in red and all with helmets. "What the hell?" I said out loud this time, slowly standing up.

"My sentiments exactly," came a familiar voice. I turned around and, as the Men In Red parted, I saw... Man In Blue Hair.

Man In Blue Hair Whose Name Is Yuan.

"Who are you?" he inquired coldly.

I blinked a couple times, and said lamely, "...I'm Aya."

He raised a blue eyebrow. "And what are you doing here?"

"Standing, talking to you," I said, as if the question were a stupid one. "Subconsciously preforming various bodily functions."

"Don't get smart with me," he said, glaring.

"Would you prefer I get stupid? I could do that, you know," I replied helpfully, ignoring my mind, which was screaming, _Don't piss off the seraphim, dumbass!_

He twitched, almost growled but decided against it, and regained his composure. "Allow me to rephrase my question. _Why_ are you here?"

I shrugged. "Dunno."

He twitched again. "What do you mean, you don't know?"

"Just as I said. Translation not required." As he visibly became increasingly more irritated, I held up my hands in a pacifying manner. "Hey, buddy, I'm just as confused as you are."

"So you honestly don't know?"

"Not a clue."

"Very well." He turned around with a dramatic swish of his cape. As he was walking back inside the big blue thing, aka the base, he added, almost as an afterthought, "Men, take her to the detention area."

"What!" I screeched as the Red Wonders approached, causing him to cringe slightly at the pitch, though he otherwise didn't respond. "What'd I do? I didn't do jack shit! Why do you feel the need to detain me?"

He didn't respond, and I growled, allowing the Renegades In Red to seize my arms and "lead" me into the base a little more roughly than entirely necessary, while a voice in my head almost gloated, _See? I told you not to piss off the seraphim!_

_Shut up.

* * *

_

A/N: What up, home dogs?

I'm really sorry for making another self-insert... but the plotbunny was about to rip my left arm off until it figured that a lack of left arm would result in severely impared typing. Self-serving little bastards. And Aya won't be paired with anyone unless I get inteligently-written reviews from three different people that _beg_ me to... though there are some couples that are a no-no, such as Aya/Lloyd. He's got enough women as it is. But it doesn't really matter, because it's almost garunteed to _not_ become a romance. Nya.

Yeah, that's actually exactly what I'm wearing right now, except I don't have my shoes on at the moment. And that is what I look like. I really hate describing my appearance--it takes too long and makes me feel Mary-Sue-ish. But, alas, without a discription, my readers won't know what Aya looks like, and in a story, that can get annoying, you know? I can't speak for anyone else, but I personally want to know what the characters look like, to make it easier to watch in my head like a movie.

And that is honestly how I act, and how I _would_ act, even if in the presence of everyone's favorite blue-haired seraphim.

I love line breaks.

End note, yo.


	2. Prison Break

Prison Break

* * *

At first, I had been mildly amused at the fact that my cell was the one that would have contained a save point. After two days of a thin "bed" and bad food (not to mention the poor décor), however, I was no longer amused. 

I was bored.

I was really bored.

So when a couple of Renegades (in red) came along, toting in an unconscious guy (in bright red) and took him to the cell next to me, my interest was piqued.

So this was Lloyd, eh...? I chuckled darkly to myself. He really was just a kid. Only a year older than me, after all.

As I stuck my head between the bars and arched in around to watch them place him on the bed (awfully considerate of them), it struck me... this kid was my ticket out of this dull prison. _Oh yeah. I am so brilliant._ I'd have to wait until he woke up, but hey, I'd been in there for two days. I could wait a little longer. The guards walked away.

-. . .-

_Wake up..._

-. . .-

_Patience is virtue..._

_-. . .-_

_...but I'm not virtuous, damnit!_

"Wake up!" I yelled at him. No response. With my right hand, I started pounding on the wall between us. "Wake up!" My fist hurt. "Wake up, you stupid little punk!" I stopped pounding before I bruised my knuckles. "_Lloyd!_"

Just as it occurred to me that it probably wasn't a good idea to call him by name before I "learned" it, he stirred. I bit my lip in anticipation as he flopped around a bit, probably semi-subconsciously trying to get comfortable. I smirked. After spending most of my time on one for the past two days, I happened to know that it was quite impossible get comfortable on one of those beds.

"After spending my time on one for the past two days, I happen to know that it is quite impossible to get comfortable on one of those beds," I said, then added as an afterthought, "The floor is actually more comfortable."

"..Nn..." He sat up and blinked a couple times before his eyes focused on me. "...Did you just call me Lloyd a second ago?"

Shit. Just my luck. He was lucid enough to remember. "No," I lied, and let my mouth do the thinking. "What's a Lloyd? Is it a kind of fish?"

"A fish? No..."

"Sure sounds like a fish to me."

"It's my name."

"So you were named after a fish?"

"No! ...At least, I don't think so..."

"Well, never fear, fish-boy! Just stay away from nets and hooks and you should be okay."

"What?"

"Nothing. I'm Aya," I informed him, mentally giving myself a pat on the back for successfully distracting him, and confusing him, all in one. _Two birds with one stone, man. ...No, two _fish_ with one stone. Heheh. Ah, I crack me up._ I pulled myself out of my thoughts and noticed Lloyd giving me an odd look. "Did I just start laughing for no readily apparent reason?"

"...You're weird," was all he said.

"Indeed I am. Hey, think you could get us out of here?" I said suddenly.

He shook his head. "I could probably get out of this cell, but they took all my weapons and stuff, and there's a guard over there, so..."

"_All_ your weapons? Like, you don't have any magic or something?" I said, trying to hint at the Sorcerer's Ring without actually letting on that I was aware of not only its existence, but also the fact that Lloyd happened to have it on him.

"No, Genis is- wait." He held a hand up in front of him, displaying a gold ring with what looked like a ruby or something on it. "That's it!"

_Good boy._ "What's it?"

"Hold on. Just wait 'til the guard comes past here again and you'll see."

"Okay..." I pulled my head back into my cell and went over to sit on my bed, dangling my feet childishly. I heard Lloyd stand up as I sat in relative silence. Eventually the guard made his way back to us and strolled past my cell, and then moved in front of Lloyd's.

Then he moved rather quickly in the opposite direction as his pants caught on fire.

I snickered to myself as Lloyd opened the door to his cell and stepped out. As he opened mine, I said amazedly, staying in character, "How'd you do that?"

He looked amusingly pleased at my fake amazement and held up his hand to show me. "With _this_," he said, trying to be dramatic and failing miserably. "The _Sorcerer's_ _Ring_."

"Wow," I said, eyes wide, trying not to laugh. "Hey, hey. Can I try?"

He shrugged. "I don't see why not." He handed it to me, and I genuinely giggled madly as I put it on. After I had been shooting fire from it with my manic giggles, Lloyd said, looking a bit nervous, "Um, okay, can I have it back now?"

I hissed at him. "Mine!" He backed away slowly. "We wants it, we does. We _needs_ it. Our preciousss..."

"Um, okay, I'll just... let you hold onto it for now, then," he said, the fear evident in his voice.

I laughed and shook my head, and handed it back to him. "I'm kidding. Come on, let's get out of here."

He looked startled, but shrugged and put it back on. "I need to find my equipment first."

"It should be right over here," I said, strolling over to the opposite corner of my cell and peering around it. "There, in that chest."

He walked over to to it and opened it, to find... his equipment! Hooray! He gave me a suspicious look. "How'd you know it would be in there?"

"I watched them as they brought you in," I said truthfully, untruthfully implying that I had also watched them put it there, despite the fact that even if I had tried to look, I wouldn't have been able to see it.

Lloyd, not being very bright, didn't think of that. He nodded and headed towards the hallway at the far end of the room that would, as I happened to know, lead to the next room, beckoning me to follow. "You'd think they'd lock it, though."

As we turned the corner, a Renegade stood in front of the door. _Crap. Forgot about him._ "Who the hell are you?"

"Um," said Lloyd.

"Your worst nightmare!" I said, and cackled evilly. Lloyd glanced at me as it occurred to him that I was just like that.

"P-prison break!" he stuttered, and ran away through the door to warn his comrades.

"Well, there goes stealth," said Lloyd.

I shrugged. "At least they _had_ a sentry. It shows the Renegades aren't _complete_ idiots."

"Renegades?" he questioned curiously.

"I mean, Desians," I corrected a little too quickly, mentally smacking myself, while also relived it was only Lloyd, who probably wouldn't think anything of it. I shuddered to think what would have happened had Kratos been there.

"Yeah, those Desians give me the shudders sometimes, too," he said, misinterpreting me, and continued through the door. I blinked and followed. _What...? Oh._ "What's this?" he said, referring to Ring Change-y Thing. I walked right past it and hopped down into Lloyd's hiding place. His attention turned to me. "What are you doing?"

"Hiding."

"Why?"

"Because a pair of Desians are coming."

"Wha-" He was interrupted as he, himself, heard footsteps come just into his hearing range, and hopped down to hide next to me just as a door opened.

"Where are they? That kid in red and the girl disappeared!" exclaimed one. They searched the entire room thoroughly, not once thinking to look in our rather obvious hiding place.

"He wasn't over there, either," said the other eventually.

"That's strange. How could we miss him when there's only one passage?" wondered the first.

_Because you're idiots._

"Let's head back," said the second idiot.

They tried to open the door they had come through, but failed. "Oh, yeah," said the first idiot. "This room has a special mechanism." They electrocuted the Raybits and put them on the panels. _At least they're not completely incompetent._ "It's annoying to go through all the trouble of electrifying them and moving them over the panels just to open the door."

"Lord Botta sure likes to do things the hard way." They left, the door closing behind them. _Of course they can't reveal Yuan's name so early in the game. No, he has to be Blue-Haired Man with a Cape._ I snickered to myself as Lloyd climbed out and helped me out, as well, as I didn't have the minimal amount of upper-arm strength required to pull myself up. (I discovered soon after that I actually did, now, thanks to my brand-spanking-new Exsphere.)

"What's so funny?"

"They're just idiots. Hey, let's check out that thingy there."

He nodded and did so. "Hey," he said suddenly, "how did you know they were coming? You couldn't have possibly heard them."

_Damn._ "I, uh, kind of have sixth sense when it comes to these things." _Psh. Yeah, right. Sixth sense, indeed._

"Oh. That's pretty cool, I guess... Hey, the Sorcerer's Ring is acting strange." Indeed it was. He tested it. "The ball of fire turned into a ball of electricity."

"Thanks for informing me. I would have never figured that out on my own."

He ignored me. "Maybe I can stop the machines with this."

"Good job, smart one."

Again, he didn't respond. "I guess I should check out any weird devices like this."

"You and your monologues. I just can't interrupt, can I?" I thought out loud, then immediately made a mental note to stop doing that.

Since his monologue was over, he glanced at me and said, "What?"

"Um..."

"What's a monologue?" he continued, as he set about the gruesome task of opening the door.

"A cheesecake, Lloyd. A monologue is a cheesecake," I explained without thinking twice about it.

"Oh. But that doesn't make any sense."

"It's a deep, profound statement. You know, a metaphor."

"What's a- wait, I remember! The Professor taught us this one! It's a comparison without the use of 'like' or 'as'!"

"I'm impressed you could remember."

"Heh. Thanks."

"That wasn't a compliment."

"Oh. Hey, the door's open."

_Why, so it is._ "Why, so it is. Let's go."

"I still don't get it," said Lloyd as we walked down the hall, absentmindedly electrocuting any Raybits in our way.

"It doesn't matter." We entered the room with the giant Gamecube. As he unsuccessfully tried the doors, I wandered across the room, past the Gamecube.

"Doors in this room are locked, too. I guess I'll look around."

"Lloyd?" He turned to me, and I blankly pointed to the console I now stood next to.

"Oh. Hey, lemme see if I can work that thing." Coming over, he looked over the instructions on the screen, his expression going from curious, to confused, to frustrated in a minute. "I don't get this at all."

"Let me try," I said.

"Be my guest," he said somewhat irritably, stepping away.

I glanced at the instructions and played with it a bit. "It's a simple matter of rotating the device in the center of the room so that a specific color lines up with its respective door. It can be turned by 180, 90, and 45 degrees at a time." The door, at what I thought of as the top of the room from its position in the game, opened.

"Whatever," said Lloyd, clearly not understanding a word I just said. He walked ahead of me into the next hall, and almost into a Renegade. "Whoa!"

"Hey, you!" yelled the soldier, oblivious to the fact that we were directly in front of him and could, therefor, hear him just fine. "What are you doing here?"

"Uh-oh!" Lloyd quickly dashed off the left and through yet another door, this one, somewhat surprisingly, not locked, and I ran after him, vaguely noting that the weird Exsphere underneath my t-shirt considerably improved my normally absolutely pathetic stamina. "Phew," he said, apparently not noticing the fancy furniture. "That was close."

"Um?" I tapped him on the shoulder and jerked my head towards Blue-Haired Man with a Cape.

"And just who the hell are you?"

I jumped in before Lloyd could reply. "I didn't tell you when we first met, Mister Blue Hair, but I'm actually... SUPER-AYA, protector of all things insane!" _Do I protect Yggdrasill, then?_

"Indeed?" said Yuan, eyebrow raised. "And who's he?"

Lloyd opened his mouth, but I opened mine faster. "This is my sidekick, Fish-Boy! His superpowers include super-fast swimming and underwater breathing. He is the protector of marine life everywhere!"

"Interesting." He turned to Lloyd. "Now who are you?"

Ignoring my protests of "But I just told you!" he said, "Give me your name and I'll give you mine."

Yuan laughed as he began forming a ball of energy in his hand. "Hahaha! You certainly have guts. But I'm afraid I don't see the need to introduce myself to a miserable little creature like you."

"Hey, come to think of it, I never asked your name," I muttered, and was ignored. _Probably because I already know it._

"What a coincidence," said Lloyd, because I don't see a need to introduce myself either to a moron who doesn't realize how pathetic he is."

I felt a sudden de ja vous as the words _Don't piss off the seraphim!_ ran through my head. "See, when you compare me to him, I'm not that bad," I said, and was ignored again.

"Why you little!..." said Yuan to Lloyd, who got into a defensive stance. Yuan's eyes widened and the energy ball disappeared. "An Exsphere! You're...Lloyd?"

"And if I am?" replied Lloyd arrogantly.

His expression changed to a curious one. "Hmm, I can see the resemblance."

Lloyd poked me in the shoulder. "What's he talking about...?"

"Why are you asking me...?" I feigned confusion while my mind screamed, _Your daddy, Lloyd! He's talking about your daddy, Kratos!_

Yuan turned to me. "You know him, then?"

"Well, I do now. He's just some kid I followed out here, to escape or whatever."

"What do you mean, just some kid?" said Lloyd angrily, but alas, it was his turn to be ignored. Three's a crowd, after all.

"Do you even have anywhere to go?" he asked.

I shrugged. "The beds are uncomfortable and the food sucks."

Just then, Botta and two Renegades came in from another door. "Sir! We've received reports that the Chosen's group has infiltrated the facility!"

"You..." Lloyd started, "you're the Desian that attacked Iselia!"

Botta looked at him. "So you're Lloyd! Now this is amusing!" _Indeed it is._

"Botta!" said Yuan. "I'm leaving for now. Our plans will be ruined if he sees me."

"What of the Chosen?"

"I'll leave that to you." He turned. "Lloyd. The next time we meet, you're mine." With that, he left, his cape swishing dramatically behind him. Just as he walked out, four new and very familiar people walked in.

"Lloyd! Are you okay?" asked the short one.

"Are you all right? Are you hurt?" asked the blond one.

"Who's this?" asked the hot one.

"Knuckles the echidna," I told him. "I'm red and I can fly for no readily apparent reason."

"That's Aya," said Lloyd. "She was in the cell next to mine."

"Spoil all my fun..."

"Perfect timing," said Botta, effectively turning everyone's attention back to him. "I'll take care of everyone at once!"

"Get ready," said Kratos.

"Run away!" said I. And run away I did... to Raine. With a fight going on in the background, I said to her, "Hey, hey. Are you a healer?"

"Why, yes," said Raine, surprised. "How did you know?"

"Sixth sense. I can feel the remnants of healing magic around you," I made up on the spot.

"Fascinating..."

Before she could dissect me, I said, "Could you teach me?"

"What?"

"I want to be a healer, but I haven't met any healers in person 'til now. So could you teach me?"

"Of course," she replied, looking perhaps a little too pleased. While a battle raged behind us, she instructed me on controlling my mana to close wounds and stuff—First Aid. "I'm afraid I don't know much more," she said apologetically. "I haven't really had much of a chance to use this."

"I can probably figure out the rest from here."

"You'll need a lot of practice."

"And look, there's an opportunity to practice right now." I pointed to Kratos breaking Botta's weapon: the fight was over. We both hurried over as Botta left the scene, and Raine gave me a practical demonstration. Following her lead, I actually helped to heal Colette. I squealed in delight as Lloyd and Raine held a brief conversation. "Yay! I did it!"

Raine picked an Exsphere out of Botta's weapon. "Isn't this a..."

"Later. We should get going," said Kratos.

She nodded. "You're right. I opened the escape route just now." _When...?_ "Let's go."

And we... went. Yay.

* * *

A/N: I think this fic is easier to write because it already has a plot. I'm going to keep the chapters short, though. Well, short by my standards. I don't know about anyone else, although I think the fics in the YYH section (the good ones, that is) tend to have longer chapters, so... yeah. 

Anyway, yeah, the prologue sucked. I know that. I just thought I'd mention it. It was highly descriptive and highly boring. But this one is better. It still isn't quite up to par, but it's closer to my usual writing style. And you've gotten a nice taste of my characteristic randomness.

79 hits and 4 reviews. Review, people. A big thank-you goes out to those that did.

**01-10-06**

Just fixed some careless mistakes. It only just occured to me that I hadn't proofed this yet before I posted it, which, for me, is extremely odd. I was probably busy being surprised that I had finished the next chapter so quickly.


	3. Good Old Fashioned Amnesia

A/N: Woo, I'm on a roll with this one. But just to let you know, I now have VERY limited access to the computer, so consider yourselves lucky, damnit. 

Also, if you have trouble imagining the maces, do a Google image search fore "mace" and you'll probably find something similar.

* * *

Good Ol' Fashioned Amnesia

* * *

"68 bottles of Palma Potion on the wall, 68 bottles of Palma Potion… take one down, pass it around, and 67 bottles of Palma Potion on the wall. 67 bottles of Palma Potion on the wall, 67 bottles of Palma Potion… take one down, pass it-"

"For the love of Martel, Aya, shut up!" whined Genis.

"And it's not really doing much to help the whole 'thirsty' thing, either," added Lloyd.

"Meh. Fine. Be that way. See if I care." I crossed my arms, then quickly uncrossed them again because it would only make my arms hotter.

"You know," said Colette, who seemed to be virtually impossible to annoy, "I've never heard that song before. Who taught you that?"

I paused, not needing to feign my thoughtful look, as I genuinely didn't remember, having learned it many, many years ago. "I… don't know," was my conclusion.

"Oh!" Colette slapped a hand over her mouth guiltily. "I'm sorry. I forgot. I mean… I'm sorry!"

I waved a hand nonchalantly. "Eh, don't worry about it. Not like I can miss anything, anyway."

"I'm sorry…"

"Colette," Lloyd broke in, "stop apologizing. She said she doesn't care."

"Sorry for apologizing so much."

"Gah. You dork."

"Hehe."

We walked for a little longer in relative silence. Then I suddenly yelled, "It's too damn hot! Deserts suck!"

"Nobody forced you to come," said Kratos irritably.

"Deserts still suck," I retorted, maturely sticking out my tongue, and quickly pulling it back in again because the air tasted like sand. _Little do you know, dear Kratty. Little do you know…_ My mind wandered back to when I had discovered a little more about my plight. We had just reached Triet…

* * *

FLASHBACK, WOOT

* * *

"SALVATION!"

Many citizens of Triet turned to stair at the young woman who had suddenly yelled as she walked through the town gates and was now laughing maniacally.

Lloyd, who was, at the moment, the only person who had come anywhere near getting used to me, sighed and poked me in the shoulder. "Aya, people are staring."

"Yeah. Your point? People stare at me weird all the time."

"I can see why," muttered Genis, and I laughed again.

"It would be wise not to attract attention," said a tired Raine.

"Ooooh, that's right! Aya shall be good now." I mimed zipping my lips.

"Let's just go to the inn and _then_ talk," said Lloyd.

We did so silently. Everyone else was tired as we entered one of the rooms, but I was hyper and fidgety. Kratos glared at me as I hopped from one foot to the other anxiously. "_Must_ you do that?"

I sighed. "Hey, I've been all cooped up in that stupid under-decorated cell for the past two days. Can you blame me for being restless?"

"Yeah, I've been meaning to ask you about that," said Lloyd curiously. "Why were you in there, anyway?"

_Shit._ I cocked my head to one side and tried to buy some time as I thought up a reasonable excuse. "You mean I didn't tell you?"

"Well, we were kind of in the middle of trying to escape, so no, I don't think we really got the chance to go into a deep discussion."

"Sarcasm from you, Lloyd?" said Genis. "I'm impressed."

"Sh…shut up."

"Indeed," said Kratos, "I had been wondering that as well. Why would the Desians feel the need to detain you?"

I sighed again. "I asked the same thing. Stupid leader-guy didn't tell me, the bastard."

"How did you get there in the first place?"

I shrugged and opted for the truth on this one. "Beats me. I just kind of popped up in front of the base and they found me before I figured out where I was."

It was Kratos's turn to sigh now. "Well, then, what were you doing up until they found you?"

"Um. I…I don't remember," I lied, then told the truth once more as I explained, "I was just doing whatever it is that I normally do, I think, and then there was this void, then this darkness, then this light, and I squinted and was all like, hey, I can squint, and then this thing… you know… and then I saw the sky, 'cept I didn't realize what it was until I started falling, and I hit the ground, and I'm all like what the hell, because there was all this sand all over the place and this big blue thing behind me, and then these crazy guys in red showed up, and the leader guy asked me what I was doing there, and I said I dunno, so he was all, take her to the detention area, and I was all, what the hell, and then they took me there and I stayed there for two days and the food really sucked." They stared at me and I lamely concluded, "I'm not very good at explaining things."

"So we can tell…" muttered Kratos. Then he said more loudly, "So you don't remember what led up to the void?"

I was impressed he had processed any of that. "Not really, but it wasn't anything unusual." _I was just about to play with your lives for a while. Nothing new. I've done it many times before. _"I was probably just reading or something."

"Hmm," he said, not letting me know what he was thinking, the bastard.

"Do you remember anything before that?" inquired Raine.

"Like what?"

"Like your life."

Then it struck me, like a wrecking ball to the head. _Amnesia. Duh._ "…I…no." I frowned and furrowed my brow.

"Nothing? Nothing at all?" asked Colette worriedly.

"Well, bits and pieces, but not enough to really amount to anything."

"Amnesia, then," said Kratos. _Good ol' fashioned amnesia._ "Do you even know if Aya is your real name?"

I shook my head. "I don't think it is. It was just what I said when the leader guy asked, and I stuck with it. It's probably a nickname or something."

"In other words," said Raine, "you won't be able to find your past through what you remember."

"I guess. I was too busy whining at the guards to really think much. Seriously, the beds are impossibly uncomfortable and the food really, _really_ sucks. So I let them know that. Loudly."

"Figures you would," said Genis, to reconfirm his existence.

I opened my mouth to say something, then paused. "Wait a second…" I bit my lip in false thought before exclaiming, "Eureka!"

"What? Do you remember something?" asked Lloyd.

"I do!" I beamed at them proudly. "I'm sixteen years old!"

"Congratulations!" said Colette as the others sweatdropped.

"I'm afraid we can't help you, then, if that's all you can remember of your past," said Kratos. He glanced pointedly at the others before looking back at me. "We have some…issues to discuss, so if you'll excuse us for now…?"

I nodded and left the room without another word. _Hmm,_ I thought to myself as I exited the building and strolled in a random direction down the street, _what to do… oh! Doggy! That solves that!_ I skipped merrily over to the dog sitting by the oasis, vaguely wondering if Colette had named him yet.

After playing with him for a little while, we both plopped down on the grass. Everyone had gone inside for the night, so the oasis was empty but for us. _Woman's best friend, yo._ I rubbed the dog's head, watching the stars as if, at any moment, they would pop out of the sky and perform for me the entire musical _The Sound of Music_. They didn't.

"Aya," said a woman's voice.

"Hmm?" I said absently, half waiting for a tiny speck of light to burst into song.

"I'd like your full attention, please."

"Mmkay." I bemusedly turned my head to look at the dog, blinked, and jumped. "Can dogs talk in this world, then?"

The dog sighed. "No. If you'll notice, this is a _male_ dog, anyway, and my voice is obstinately female."

"Maybe you're a prepubescent dog. Prepubescent boys sometimes sound remarkably like girls."

"I am not the dog, Aya. I am merely using it-"

"-him-"

"-as a vessel; something to speak through, as I haven't yet the energy to manifest myself in a physical form without assistance, or even just my voice, for an extended period of time."

"Who are you, then?"

"I am the soul in your Exsphere."

"So it _is_ an Exsphere, then. But how can it even have a soul? This thing," I gestured to my chest, "just kinda popped out of nowhere. Well, my controller, maybe."

"Yes, well…" The dog sighed. "So did I."

I blinked. "Now _that's _interesting."

"Indeed. I am not sure if I even qualify as a soul, for that matter… and I do not know why you are here. But I was created, however that was done, to assist you. I can provide for you some basic necessities required to survive in this world, and on this journey."

"Journey? Wait, wait. Back up." I held my hands in front of me in a defensive way. "You mean the Journey of Regeneration?"

"Indeed."

"You already said that, and 'indeed' is my word. But that's beside the point. I'm not the adventuring type. I'd much rather just hang out in Asgard or Sybak or something until I can go home."

"I'm afraid you don't have a choice." As my eyebrows rose somewhat angrily, the quickly continued, "Nor do I. I have told you all I know. All I can do now is provide assistance when you need it. And that reminds me—you'll be needing a weapon."

"But I don't want a weapon!" I complained. "I'm a pacifist! I want to be a healer!"

"But you will need something else when your mana, or TP, runs out."

I frowned. She was right. "A blunt weapon."

"Like a staff? I believe that would be suitable."

"No, Raine's got a staff. I need something different—something smaller and easier to carry around with me."

"How about a mace?"

"Don't maces have spikes?"

"Not all do. Here, let me try something." There was a glow from the crystal Exsphere on my chest, similar to the light in the very beginning, except considerably dimmer and smaller. From it came a beam of light of the same intensity and diameter, aimed at the ground between the dog and myself. There, where the light hit the ground, it grew, forming a shape, one I supposed to be that of a small mace, about 14 inches long. The connection to my Exsphere broke, so that there was only a mace of light before me. Then it split to form another one, identical to the first.

The light faded, and in its place were two—you guessed it—maces, but not of the stereotypical sort that would first come to mind. They each were wooden, a dark cherry; the heads were beautifully carved, in a simple but elegant fashion. While there were no spikes, there were some more-or-less pointy bits: twelve, for each corner of the sort of corset-esque hexagonal prism. At the opposite ends, there were what looked to be adjustable leather-like thongs that could allow the maces to hang from my wrists when not in use.

"Spiffy," I said.

"I thought you'd like them. In any case, you had best head back to the inn before they begin to wonder. And remember, you must follow the Chosen on her journey."

"Okie-dokie." I could feel her spirit leave the poor dog, which now seemed to be quite confused, and withdraw into its Exsphere. "I don't like it, but I'll do it. No point in arguing with an unknown force." With that, I gave the dog one last pat on the head and stood, to return to the inn as suggested. I was actually kind of sleepy, after all that.

* * *

"_Aya… wake up,"_ came a now-familiar female voice inside my head.

"Mgh. No wanna."

"_Get up."_

"No."

"_You need to get up."_

"Five more minutes."

"_You don't have five minutes. Get up now."_

"Not gonna. Wanna sleep."

"_-…-"_

"Mmmgh."

"_GET UP!"_

"ARGH!" I rolled out of bed and made a loud _thump _as I hit the wood floor. "Ow," I said intelligently.

"_You need to hurry."_ Her presence faded.

"Mrgh." I stood, stretching, and scratched my head for a moment as my eyes scanned the room for a mirror I had been too tired to bother looking for the night before. Finding one, I strolled over to it, still waking up, and peered into my reflection. _Aah, the hair will do. It'd only get messed up again in a couple hours, anyway…_ Then I noticed.

My acne, mild and not terribly noticeable as it had been, was gone.

I blinked, then crouched and experimentally tugged up a pant leg. No leg hair. And even though I hadn't bathed for three days, I didn't smell and my hair wasn't all nasty.

That woke me up well enough. "WOOHOO!" _Because video game characters don't have to worry about that stuff... _Now wide-awake and cheerful, I grabbed the maces I had left on my bedside table and ran out. I was just in time: they were at the town gate. "Hey, wait up, yo!"

They turned, and Kratos sighed in a very Kratos-like manner. "What now? I said we can't help you."

"But-but-but you can't just leave me here!"

"Why not?"

"Because you just can't!"

"I don't have time for this."

"I'll just have to stalk you, then!"

As Kratos's eyebrow began twitch, Raine interrupted, "Why are you so eager to join us?"

"Well," I said, thinking quickly, "a you're gonna be going all over the place for the whole Regeneration thing, right?"

"Yes…"

"Well, well, well, maybe one of those places will trigger a memory or something!"

Now Raine sighed. "Aya…"

I clenched my fists girlishly in front of me and turned on my puppy-dog eyes. "Pleasepleasepleasepleasepleaseplease-"

"Fine!" said Kratos irritably. "We've already got two tagalongs, and frankly, I do not feel like putting up with you annoying me until we somehow manage to loose you."

"YES!" I cheered, jumping and punching the air a little too enthusiastically.

And that was that.

* * *

END FLASHBACK

* * *

I sighed. "Why couldn't I have caught them at Palmacosta?"

* * *


	4. Booyah

* * *

Booyah

* * *

"I. Hate. Deserts!" 

"We know." I would have glared at Genis if I had the energy, but alas, I did not, so I merely growled in what I had hoped to be an intimidating way, but wasn't, especially considering it came out as more of a groan.

My sweatshirt had long since been removed and tied securely around my waist, and my hair I had pulled back (with my ever-present hair thingies) into a ponytail, higher than its usual position at the nape of my neck. We had run into some Sidewinders and Scorpions, made quick work of mostly by the melee fighters, while I lingered in the background, sulking by all appearances, but actually carefully observing the two "elves" as they cast their spells, particularly Raine. I allowed myself a weak smirk. _Won't they be surprised when I suddenly know various support spells._

We walked on.

After a while, I said, with my speech considerably slurred, "Y'know whah? I'ma jus sleep on m' feet here. Wake m' when w' geh there, and if I c'lapse, be a dear and dun jus leave m' there, mmkay?" There were various grunts of "okay, whatever" from my companions and I grinned stupidly. "Manneh tanks fer yer as't…as't...help, mee amiigos-sa." I giggled as I fell into a dose, still walking. _I'm Italian…_

Eventually I woke to a sharp pain in the back of my leg. I blinked my eyes open and glanced behind me. It was Genis. I yawned and stood there for a moment, watching him as I woke up completely and paying little to no heed to the continuing jabs at my calves.

Then I said, "You can stop kicking me now, you know."

He stopped, looked up at me, and blushed. "Oh. Got a little carried away there, I guess, hehe."

"Apparently. But I don't really blame you. I would kick me, too." I looked up and saw that we had finally reached the ruins, and stretched, now rested and thankful for the blessed shade cast by the large, intricately carved ancient stones around us. It was still hot, though.

Lloyd confirmed this. "Ah, so hot…man, I'm beat."

"See? You're already worn out," said Genis.

"I'm sick of this desert," he added, ignoring his short friend.

"Then that makes two of us," I told him.

"Three of us," corrected Genis.

"Four of us," added Kratos, though very quietly. I was holding back a snicker as Noishe whined.

"What's wrong, Noishe?" asked Lloyd.

Kratos already knew, having known the "dog" long enough to know he was like a cute, whiny monster detector. "Be on your guard, there are enemies about!"

I sighed and got into an awkward defensive position as two funky red balls (Fire Elements) floated out from…somewhere, quickly followed by a Fire Warrior. _Yay. Ah, well. Seeing as these punks are a wee bit tougher than those egg-bearing snakes, I think I'll try out some spells._

And so I did. It took me a couple tries to get the hang of it, and even after I did, my form was decidedly gauche; but once the weird monster-things were down, I was quite proud of myself, though I did my best not to show it. I wasn't entirely sure why I wanted to hide it, but it just seemed appropriate.

"This is going to be a nuisance," mumbled Kratos.

"What is?" asked Lloyd, overhearing. _Me, most likely._

"Ah, nothing." _Can't talk to yourself with other people around now, can you, Kratty-boy?_ "Anyway, it would be a good idea to learn techniques to defend yourself."

"Are you talking about self-defense training?" inquired Colette. _No, Colette, he's talking about ballet._ Don't get me wrong—I loved Colette. It was all but impossible to not at least grow fond of her. It's just that she was kind of…stupid.

"Something like that," replied Kratos. "Techniques to raise your defense during battles. I'll show you how it's done. Once you grasp the theory, the rest should be easy." And…he showed us. Lloyd learned Guardian, Colette learned Damage Guard, the Sage siblings learned Force Field, and I learned Sanctuary. Woot.

"Okay!" shouted Lloyd over-enthusiastically. "I don't really get it, but I already feel stronger! I can't wait to try it out!"

"I think you're just imagining things…" I commented, and Genis nodded sagely, not realizing that I had just stolen his line. _Haha. Me: 1. Genis: 0. …Not like we're competing, of course…_

"Hmm, what happened to Noishe?" wondered Raine.

Lloyd looked somewhat startled. "You're right. He's gone. Ah, man, he's run off again."

"He's probably nervous about the monsters," said Kratos. "I think it would be best not to count on Noishe in places with monsters around." _And you would know, wouldn't you, Kratos?_

We approached the altar. Colette went straight to the pedestal next to the entrance. "Say, isn't this the seal? It has my family's crest on it…"

I could almost see little hearts around Raine as she clasped her hands excitedly. "Fantastic!" The others turned to look at her while she continued, "Look at this slab covering the entrance! It's clearly of a different composition than the surrounding stone!"

"Really?" I was interested in this sort of thing, actually.

She crouched, and I did as well, beside her. We both ran our hands over the surface. Raine laughed somewhat scarily. "It's just as I thought!"

"Isn't this polycarbonate?" I wondered, already knowing the answer and mainly wanting to gain some of Raine's respect. _I'll work on them one at a time…_ I snickered evilly to myself.

"It is!" she confirmed. "Aya, do you know when this was developed?"

"I think it was during the Ancient War, to defend against magic," I said. _PH34R MAH KNOWLEDGE!_ I laughed.

"Very good! Where did you learn this?" asked Raine. I just blinked at her, and she slapped herself lightly on the forehead. "Oh, right." She turned back to the slab. "Oh, feel the smooth surface! It's wondrous!"

"Wow," I marveled genuinely. "It feels like stone, but is smoother than steel…however that's possible…"

"…Are they always like this?" asked Kratos quietly while we excitedly examined the stuff around the entrance.

"I don't know about Aya, but Raine…" He turned to Genis. "…Is she?"

The short mage sighed. "…I've been trying so hard to hid it, too."

Raine and I huddled around the pedestal. I lightly fingered the writing on it. "What's this? I can't read it. Is this the angelic language?"

"Yes," confirmed Raine. "This depression…it reads, 'oracle stone.'" The backed away and beckoned Colette to come over. "Colette, place your hand here. That should reveal the entrance."

"Really?" asked Lloyd.

"This stone is enchanted with magic designed to identify the Chosen. There's no question about it.

"But how would that work?" I asked. "Would it somehow sense the her bloodline?"

"I suppose," said Raine, as Colette placed her hand on it and the door opened.

"It opened!" she exclaimed. "Wow! I guess I'm really the Chosen after all!"

"Yes, I think we all know that already," said Genis.

"It must be nice to have some sort of confirmation, though," I said, and she nodded.

Lloyd rubbed his hands together. "Okay! Now it's getting exciting! Let's hurry up and go inside!"

As we walked inside, Kratos commented, "…I hope you'll be able to maintain that enthusiasm."

Raine and I squealed as we darted around the corridor, the heat all but forgotten… as were the monsters. As I fingered some sort of image carved into the stone wall (it looked remarkably like Kratos), I noticed the back of my head and neck was suddenly hotter than the rest of me.

"Aqua Edge!" I turned to see a Fire Bird getting hit by Genis's recently learned magic attack. "Aya, pay attention!"

"There are monsters in here, too, you know," said Kratos.

I glared at the rather beautiful creature as I dodged an attack. "I'm busy! Leave me alone!" I swung my maces up into my hands and whacked the thing on the head repeatedly.

Raine bonked a Fire Element with her staff. "You're interrupting important research!"

"…Don't those two usually stay on the sidelines?" Lloyd asked Kratos, who shrugged.

"…It seems they don't like to be interrupted," he said, distractedly vanquishing an aptly named Brown Pot.

"Damn straight!" I yelled as I KO'ed the Fire Bird and promptly whirled around to kick a Fire Warrior in the armored shins. I ducked to avoid its blade, then screeched indignantly as it lodged itself in the wall. "I was _looking_ at that, damn you!"

Even though it didn't have eyes, I got the distinct impression it was giving me a weird look.

"You _better_ not have damaged any inscriptions, or so help me…!" I gave the thing a great shove and backed up a bit, out of the monster's range. Then I clutched my maces in front of me, and ran and jumped at it. The jump was unusually high, as powered by my Exsphere. Once above it, I brought my maces down hard, using my weight as effected by gravity along with my Exsphere-enhanced strength to make the blow harder than usual. "Falling Star!" I stepped back as the Fire Warrior collapsed, not to get up again, vaguely wondering to myself how much EXP I had just earned and half expecting to see the answer pop up above my head.

Then, looking around, I realized: not only had I just beaten the last monster in the area, but I had also just learned my first tech.

I blinked.

I blinked again.

Then I broke out into an idiotic victory dance "Oh yeah! Booyah! I kick ass _so_ bad!" I pointed victoriously at my fallen enemy. "I just laid down some major smackdown, yo! Don't be messin' wit' me! I'll kick yo' sorry ass into next _week_, dawg!" I resumed my dance, chanting to myself something along the lines of, "Oh yeah, oh yeah! Who's da woh-man? I'm da woh-man! Oh yeah!"

Then I stopped suddenly and, perfectly calm, glanced around at my staring companions.

"What?"

They just shook their heads and we resumed our journey into the UNKNOWN! Or something.

I allowed myself to go on auto-pilot as we continued, absently defeating various monsters as we went. With my adrenaline rush faded, I again stayed on the sidelines, away from the fighting, and cast various support and healing spells. I was thinking.

_I'm… a pacifist,_ I thought to myself. _Why was I fighting so enthusiastically?_

"_You're entitled to some enthusiasm."_

I jumped and looked around, only to realize that the voice was coming from my Exsphere, entering my head without bothering to pass through my ears first. _But I'm a pacifist._

_"Yes, you've already stated that fact."_

_But what kind of a pacifist am I, to fight like that?_

"_It was in self-defense."_

_So?_

"_I have, as we've been together, been getting to know you. I can see, hear, and feel your thoughts and memories."_

_…I feel violated._

"The point is, while nonviolent for the most part, you yourself believe that self-defense is acceptable when necessary."

_…Well, yeah, but…_

_"No buts. It is your own policy."_

_But I killed those things. If you know my policies, you know that I can't kill even the tiniest ant._

She sighed. _"Aya, something about this world that I don't think you quite understand yet is that these…creatures we find in places such as this do not truly count as living beings."_

_That makes no sense._

_"The world doesn't make sense, dear."_ I scowled at her patronizing tone, but otherwise chose to ignore it. _"These things we fight are creations not of any divine being, but of chaos."_

_I'm agnostic anyway._

_"That is beside the point!"_ I could hear her getting exasperated. _"With the exception of the more basic, animalistic creatures, like those abnormally violent rabbits that somehow carry beef, these…things are fluctuations of reality! They should not exist! They are born of chaos and destruction and so on, and, simply put, _need_ to be destroyed. It is their nature."_

_…Fine. But that doesn't mean I have to like it._

_"Of course not. And now I am afraid I have used up my energy and cannot converse with you any longer."_ Her presence in my mind faded, and I snorted at her rather rude departure.

"Um, Aya?"

I turned, startled, to see Colette cautiously coming up beside me. "Oh, what?"

"Well, you seemed out of it. I was getting worried."

I smiled warmly at her. "No, I'm fine. Don't worry about me. I was just thinking about some things."

She returned my smile. "Oh, good. We're coming up on the seal, too. Remiel, an angel, is going to come, and, you know, I wouldn't want you to miss him…"

I gave her a swift hug. "You're such a sweet girl, Colette." She giggled, as Raine exclaimed something about magitechnology in the background. As we approached the seal, it began to react strangely. Everyone except Kratos seemed startled, and I forced myself to act surprised, as well.

Out came the Ktugach, flanked by two Ktugachlings. I hung out in the back with my spells, and didn't really get much of a chance to observe the others as they fought. I mainly concentrated on staying out of the way and keeping up the others' health, healing them when they needed it and casting support spells with leftover mana. In between my spells, I would run up and physically attack one of the Ktugachlings to the best of my ability, more to get my TP back up than anything else, though the damage I caused was certainly helpful, if minimal.

At last, the guardians of the seal were dead. A new voice met my ears as its owner descended from an opening in the ceiling above the seal. "You, Chosen, of Regeneration. Offer your prayers at the altar."

"Yes, my lord," said Colette, but I wasn't really listening.

"…Muffin," I muttered, and failed to suppress a snicker. As Remiel did his thang, I continued to snicker until Lloyd glanced at me.

"What's so funny?"

"Muffin," I said.

"What?"

"Muffin," I repeated.

"What are you talking about?" said Genis, who had wandered over, apparently bored by the angel's pompousness.

"He's a muffin," I clarified.

"Who? Lloyd?"

"No, the angel guy." Genis glanced at Lloyd, who shrugged. We looked back towards the altar to see that the aforementioned angel guy had vanished and Colette… was floating. Well, hovering, more like, as she had wings. She descended to the floor.

"Colette…has wings!" Lloyd helpfully pointed out.

"The muffin gave them to her," I said, equally helpful.

"And I can put them away, too," said Colette. She demonstrated.

"Oh, wow! That's so cool!" Genis and I ran over to her and she flapped her wings indulgently while the other members of the party talked. We were probably amused by it a little too much, but who cares? It was cool.

Lloyd was the one to ruin our fun. "Okay, you three, we get it already. That's enough."

"Okay," said Colette.

"Okay," said Genis.

"Spoilsport," said I.

We left the interior of the ruins.

* * *

A/N: Yo. I had some stuff to say, but I forgot what it was. Oh, yeah: review. Chapter 3 got 70 hits and 3 reviews. Come on. If people read as far as that, they obviously must have liked it, so why didn't they review, hmm? If I read to the latest update of a fic, I try to review it. It's just common courtasy from one author to another. 

**01/27/05 edit  
**

Yo. You might have seen that lovely, lovely little flame someone left me. As unnecessarily nasty as it was, it DID address a couple potentially negative aspects of the fic.

First off, I want to explain that there is nothing special about the maces. They are just wooden maces, and yes, maces do come in wood. I did a Google image search, combined some of the things I found, and the result was Aya's maces. Also, because they are wooden, they are not extremely heavy, and with the weight not an issue, how hard can a mace be to weild? Aya did not magically know how to use them. It doesn't take much skill to just bonk something over the head. Come on. They are very simple weapons, and diliberately so.

Second, the magic. That was a slip-up. I found the explaination of magic somewhat confusing all three or four times I played through the game, and seeing as that was a while ago as it is, I completely forgot that humans can't use magic. I'm changing that. However, humans CAN heal. Raine said at some point the Boltzman believed healing to be its own kind of magic, and therefor not subject to the normal rules. Note that Regal can heal. Support spells, in my book, are in the same branch of magic as healing.

Third, Aya is me. I know she's annoying. So am I. She is me, end of story, so it's pointless to complain about her because that's just the way she is.

Fourth, she is still clumsy. She still cannot fight very well, but again, hitting something over the head does not require all that much skill. The Expshere improved her stamina and strenth, as Expsheres generally do.

Fifth, if you don't like it, don't read it. Sheesh.


	5. I'll Believe That

I'll Believe That

* * *

"Colette! Are you okay?"

She had suddenly kneeled to the stone floor just outside the interior of the Triet Ruins. "I'm…fine…"

"You're not fooling anyone, honey," I told her, and knelt beside her, gently placing my hand on her back.

Raine knelt in front of her. "Her lips are turning purple. We must get her to a doctor in the city immediately!"

"Wait," said Kratos. "It's best not to move her."

"Why?" asked someone.

"Remember the angel's words." He closed his eyes and got his pensive-Kratos look. "The angel transformation process requires her to overcome a trial. Rather than taking her to a doctor, it would be best to let her rest here."

Colette looked up guiltily. "I'm…okay. I'll be fine after a little rest. I'm sorry to cause so much trouble…"

"Stop apologizing all the time, you dork! It's not as if you can help it. You were suddenly turned into an angel," Lloyd reminded her.

Colette sighed. "You're right…I'm sorry."

Lloyd sighed, as well. "Well, let's set up camp before it gets dark."

"Yes, that would probably be a good idea," said Raine.

We set about our various tasks. After we had set up a fire pit, it occurred to us…

"We don't have anything to burn," said Genis.

"Hey, you're right," said Lloyd. "We're in a desert, so there's no wood…"

"There's probably some driftwood down by the beach," supplied Kratos.

"Good thinking," said Raine.

"Gah! Stop knowing everything!" snapped Lloyd. Kratos blinked at him. _So he _can_ blink._

"I'll go collect some, if that's okay with everyone," I volunteered.

Various people various vocal or physical indications that sure, they didn't care, and Genis said, "Why are you suddenly so mellow? And…helpful?"

I shrugged. "I'm a hormonal teenage girl. I'm entitled have mood swings." He didn't look like he quite believed me, so I amended, "That, and I'm hungry."

He nodded, and I sighed as I walked away, towards the ocean I could see in the near distance. _Is that how they see me…? Just a…a greedy little weirdo? …Well, I can see why they would…_ My thoughts were interrupted by a certain red-clad swordsman. "Hey, you sure you wanna go down there by yourself? It's kinda far away, and it's getting dark."

I looked up at him, startled by his concern. "Oh…yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry about me. And I'd kinda like some time to myself and all."

"Well, okay," he said, still looking skeptical, but obviously not wanting to get into a fight about it. I sighed again and continued towards the ocean. _A greedy, _weak_ little weirdo._

The sun was setting, and I remembered that deserts tended to get cold at night. Indeed, it was already quite chilly, and I shivered slightly, and put on my hoodie. I then allowed myself to get lost in my thoughts as I walked.

_They really don't want me here, do they…? No, I suppose not…why would they? I'm a greedy, weak, annoying little weirdo, and that's probably all I am to them at this point…_ I sighed yet again. _That's all I am to _myself_ at the moment. …Heh, I think in italics…_ I smiled darkly to myself as the author in my narrated my thoughts and actions.

_And she continued to walk, slightly chilled by the cool night air. Her footsteps fell softly, muffled, in the sand, as she sighed for what must have been the millionth time. _This whole "journey" thing will be much easier if I can get them to like me, _she thought to herself, _but I'm such a brat by nature._ All she could do was win them over one at a time, but that felt so…manipulative, for some reason. Granted, she genuinely wanted them to like her, and not so they would trust her or anything—trust was a fragile thing, and she generally just avoided the concept altogether—but she hated lying to them…but what could she do?_

_Aya absently noted to herself that the desert sand had changed into that of the beach variety, if there was any difference. There probably wasn't, but in any case, she _was_ on the beach. Indeed, there was driftwood lying about. As she bent to begin her task of collecting some, she felt someone behind her._

-…-

_Wait, I _do_ feel someone behind me._ I straightened, and turned stiffly around to see if my inconsistent instincts had been correct. As it turned out, they had, and thought I was half-expecting to see the figure standing there, anyway, I still jumped and shrieked.

"God, you're just as bad as toast!"

I couldn't make out his face, but I got the distinct impression he was raising an eyebrow. "Indeed?"

"'Indeed' is my word," I said automatically. Then I blinked. I knew that voice. "I know that voice."

"You should, by now," said Yuan. "I'd be insulted if you didn't."

"Really…?" A pause. Then, "Gosh, whoever could that be? I do not remember this person at all."

"You're not very convincing."

"I'm not trying to be. So," I said, trying to hurry things along a bit, "what's up, Mister Blue-Haired Man With a Cape?"

He walked closer, and I could now see that the figure did indeed have blue hair and a cape. "I meant to interrogate you before, but was kind of…busy, and then you ran away."

"The beds are impossible to get comfortable on and the food sucks."

"Yes, the guards informed me that you were whining about that quite a bit."

"I didn't really have anything better to do."

"True. In any case, I have some questions to ask you."

I shrugged. "Sure, fine, whatever, but could you talk to me while I'm collecting wood? Triet Desert doesn't really supply much in the way of flammable material."

He raised an eyebrow, and I could actually see it this time. "I would much rather have your full attention."

"And I would much rather get back before morning."

He chuckled. "Very well."

"Many thanks, o mighty one."

I could feel his eyes on me as I set about my task. "You're awfully impudent."

"Such is my nature. It tends to get me in trouble sometimes. But people tend to like me anyway, and I have no idea why," I explained truthfully. "…Well, not Kratos, but I don't think he really likes anyone. Like, 'Nooo, amiability is the devil.'"

"Yes, I've noticed that… Anyway, where did you come from?"

"The sky."

"Yes, but where were you before you appeared in the sky?"

"Beats me." I could practically hear his eyebrow raise as I wandered over to another piece of driftwood and elaborated, "I got that whole amnesia thing going on, see."

"Really." It was more of a statement than a question.

I meant to say "really really" but it came out as more of an "augh." I had fallen over due to a fish-attack. I scrambled away crab-style , giving the fish a not-very-intimidating glare. "What are you doing up here on land, you little freakoid?"

The fish didn't answer, instead opting to lunge at my knee. I batted it away.

"Damnit, Lloyd is Fish-Boy, not me," I told it.

It didn't seem to care as it lunged again.

This time I sidestepped. "I'm not even a melee fighter! Couldn't you wait 'til one of them came down here?"

It couldn't.

"How am I supposed to be a pacifist if even the friggin' _fish_ attack me?" I halfheartedly kicked it, muttering "Punt!"

It crawled right back at me.

I sighed. "You ass. I got enough direct combat in one effing fight and I don't want any more." With that, I grabbed the thing by the tail and lifted it above my head. While it was still busy being startled to fight back, I whirled it around in circles a couple times, then released. "Hammer Throw!"

I couldn't see very well due to lack of proper illumination, but I watched anyway as it flew out to sea. There was a splash on the edge of my hearing.

I sighed, this time in relief, and turned around. "So, Mister- wha? Dude, where'd you go?" Alas, dear Yun-Yun had left me. How tragic. "How rude."

I shrugged it off and went over to the little pile of wood I had collected and gathered it up in my arms to carry back to camp. _Dudeness, I learned two new techs. Sweet._

* * *

"Aya? What took you? Everyone's hungry and I can't cook without a fire."

"You're welcome," I grumbled as I unceremoniously dropped the now-dry wood in the fire pit, "and thanks so much for your concern."

Genis sweatdropped as he cast a quick Fireball. "Oh, um, how are you?"

"Fine, thanks," I said sarcastically, and plopped down next to the fire. "Could we have something with fish?"

"Why?"

"Let's just say I'm feeling particularly nasty towards fish right now and would derive some sort of sick pleasure from eating some."

"You were attacked?"

"Yeah." I chose to leave out the bit about Yuan. _They don't have to know that._

"Oh, sorry. I guess that's what took you so long, huh?"

"Ya think?" I scoffed, then sighed. "Sorry for being so sour. It's not like you sent the fish to attack me…did you?"

"No." Genis grinned at the feigned look of suspicion I sent his way, probably glad that my humor was returning. _And he doesn't even know how unpleasant I can be…_

We ate. There was some conversation, but tuned it out, absently noting Colette wasn't eating anything. I went to bed right after. As always, I had insomnia that night. I fell asleep thinking about Kratos, then Yuan. _Did they go through all that when they turned into angels…?_

* * *

"Aya," came the voice of Genis.

"Mmph."

"It's morning."

"That's nice."

"Get up."

"Later."

"Now."

"No want to."

"We'll be leaving in a sec."

"Good for you."

"Do you want us to leave you here?"

"If it means I get to sleep in."

"-…-"

"-…-"

"Icicle!"

"YAAA! COLDCOLDCOLDCOLDCOLD!" I jumped up off my bedroll. "I'm up, I'm up! Jeez…"

Genis shrugged. "It was a very weak version of the spell. And hey, it got you up."

"Yeah, yeah…" I rolled up my bedroll and stuffed it into the enormous pack that somehow held everyone's stuff, then stood up and stretched. After I had stuffed some of last night's leftovers in my mouth, causing my cheeks to bulge out like a chipmunk, I glanced back down at where the pack should have been, but there was nothing there. I looked around. Nobody else had it. _Come to think of it, I don't remember anyone bringing it, either._ It had faded from existence, as though it had never been there to begin with. I swallowed. "Hey, Genis?"

"Yeah?"

"What happened to the pack?"

"What pack?"

"The one we put all our stuff in…"

"We don't have a pack."

"Then where does all the stuff go when we're not using it?"

He frowned. "Hey, you know, I don't-" He stopped, and clutched a hand to his head. "Oww, my head…"

"Headache? You okay?"

He looked up. "No, it's gone now. Now, what were we talking about?"

"The pack-"

"Oww!" He rubbed his head for a moment, then looked up again. "Okay, what were talking about just now?"

"…Never mind." _Guess that explains how they're able to carry so much stuff with no visible pack and not think twice about it. Sort of._

"Let's get going," said Kratos. He was giving me a rather irritated look.

"Sorry, sorry…"

I sighed as we walked along. _Kratos really doesn't like me, does he?_ I snorted slightly. _Of course he doesn't. I'm an annoying, greedy, weak little weirdo. He doesn't want me here._ I glared at the ground. _Well, Kratty, I don't really have much of a choice here. I don't want to be here, either. Is it too much to ask to just be, I don't know, somewhat nice? Or at least not hostile?_ I sighed again. _Yeah. It really is. This is Kratos, after all…_

"Hey, Aya, what'd that sand ever do to you?"

I looked up at Lloyd, who had jerked me out of my self-pity. "Huh?" I said intelligently.

"Well, you're giving it a glare like you're about to kill something…"

"…Oh." I smiled at him. "Just thinking, is all."

He cocked his head to one side like a puppy. "What about?"

"Stuff."

"What kind of stuff?"

"Just stuff."

"…You're not going to tell me, are you?"

"Nope."

He crossed his arms and gave me a look of mock-seriousness. "Well, in that case, you have to tell me something else."

"What?"

"Stuff."

"Lloyd…"

He laughed. "I was just wondering what you were talking about with the muffin thing, back at the Ruins."

"Oh, that." I grinned. "That was from my theory on angels."

"What's you theory on angels?" asked Raine, who had happened to overhear.

"Well…" I cleared my throat, then said, in a louder voice, "Aya's Theory on Angels. …By Aya."

I now had the entire group's attention. I could only tell Kratos was listening because he rolled his eyes.

"IN THE BEGINNING, there were… muffins," I began, my voice rising and falling in pitch and volume theatrically. "These muffins… were not just any muffins. They were magical muffins. _Holy_ muffins, in fact. Those of the highest order were of the blueberry variety. Some still hold blueberry muffins to be sacred today, and savor every bite as if it were their LAST! Their numbers are few…very few. There's only one that I know of, and that's me, a devote follower of the Muffin God."

"Muffin God…?" said Genis incredulously. "Oh, come on."

"SILENCE, INFIDEL!" He cowered. "You know nothing of these matters, so do not interrupt!" I cleared my throat again. "Anyway, these holy muffins were the best muffins in all the world…and, therefor, the tastiest. But they were muffins nonetheless, and looked almost exactly the same as the common muffin. They looked so similar, in fact, that people would often mistake them for an ordinary muffin. Thus, many a noble muffin met his or her end when eaten by the ignorant.

"It was tragic—so tragic that the Muffin God took pity on his delicious disciples. He gave them new, human forms, but with wings. These new forms, as was intended by His Muffinliness, were considerably more impressive than the previous. In these new forms, people would be more inclined to worship them and less inclined to eat them. These transformed muffins came to be known as angels. And that is the origin of the angels."

I was, by now, getting some considerably odd looks, and continued: "BUT THAT'S NOT ALL! The Muffin God decided to take a more human form, as well, and so came about He who is known today as…The Muffin Man. He wanders the world still, in disguise, and few know his true identity…but I do."

"Who?" asked Colette.

"Why, He is none other than…" I pointed dramatically. "KRATOS!" Jaws dropped. "Yes, my friends, the mercenary Kratos is secretly The Muffin Man! I knew it from when I first set eyes upon him!"

There was a relative silence as we continued to walk, our legs on auto-pilot, while everyone's heads were turned to stare at me. Kratos had the most amusing expression on his face. Then he recomposed himself. "I am not, nor have I ever been or ever will be, anything related to muffins."

"You cannot hide from me, Kratos. I know who you _really_ are…" Ironically, that, at least, was true.

"…I refuse to continue this ridiculous conversation."

"Very well, Your Muffinliness." He just turned around and continued as before. The only indication that he had heard me at all was the way his eye way twitching. _He _really_ won't like me now, but that was worth it._

Lloyd spoke. "…Do you really believe that?"

"Hmm?" I looked at him. "Oh, no. As much as I love blueberry muffins, it's complete nonsense. I just made that all up."

"It makes a nice story, though," said Colette cheerfully.

"…Where do you come up with this stuff?" asked Genis.

"Ah, a question I have often wondered myself." I shrugged. "The demented recesses of my twisted little mind, I guess."

"I'll believe that," said Lloyd.

We walked on.

* * *

A/N: This hasn't been proofread yet. Sorry. If you catch any mistakes, any at all, tell me. And Nee-chan, turn on your cellphone, you idiot.

A huge thanks to all that reviewed.

Oh, by the way—my older sister, the aforementioned Nee-chan, actually wrote an insert. (Welcome to the dark side.) Its story id is 2700348, if you're interested. It's not really a plug, and she didn't ask me to mention it, but I just think it's amusing how different we are in temperment.


	6. Tall, Dark, and Scary

Tall, Dark, and Scary

* * *

"We should probably stop for supplies before we continue for Ossa Trail," said Kratos as we stopped just outside Triet. There were various grunts of agreement/indifference and we trudged through the town gates.

"Hey," said Lloyd, "before I got captured, this weapons-maker guy said he would make some equipment for free if we supplied him with the materials. I'm gonna go check that out. Anyone want to come with me?"

"I'd like to be alone for a while," said Kratos, and wandered off.

"I'll come," volunteered Colette.

"No, you won't," scolded Raine. "You still need rest."

"But I feel fine." The Professor's eyes flashed dangerously and Colette caved. "Okay, I'll rest."

"Very good. I'll come with you to make sure that you do." They headed towards the inn.

"I'm tired," yawned Genis, and followed them.

"Me, too," I said. "I'll go-argh."

A voice had rung out in my head a little louder than necessary. _"You go, too."_

"Didn't have to yell…" Lloyd looked at me, and I coughed. "Um, yeah, as I was saying, I'll go."

"You were saying you're tired."

"I'll live. Let's go," I growled irritably. Lloyd shrugged and led us down a street to the left, while I grumbled under my breath, "This better be worth it, Shiro."

"_Shiro?"_

"Like, you know, Japanese for 'white' without adjective-ness… white, for you."

"_You think of 'Shiro' as a dog's name."_

"Well, you were a dog when you first spoke to me."

"_It's also a boy's name."_

"It was a boy dog."

"Aya…" 

I rolled my eyes. "Fine, fine. Shiro_ko_, then."

"Is that even a name?" 

"I don't know. But it's feminine. According to me, just add a 'ko' and it's feminine."

"Why the Japanese?" 

"Because I said so."

"_You're talking out loud, you know."_

"Oh." She left, and I noticed Lloyd staring at me. It occurred to me that that must have been an odd conversation if he could only hear one side of it. "What? Never heard a chick talk to herself before?"

"What's Japanese?"

_Shitshitshit._ "It's a…dog." I nodded. "It's a breed of dog, also known as a Shiba dog, or Shiba inu." _Good save._

"Oh," said Lloyd. "Anyway, the guy's right over there."

"…So he is."

It was now, of all times, as Lloyd talked to the guy, that it suddenly occurred to me that people looked quite different when not in the slightly chibi-ified form of the game. _I mean, that guy was bald before, but now he's _really_ bald…though that makes no sense._ Bald was bald, but the realness extenuated it somehow.

Lloyd was talking. I looked back at him. "What?"

"Were you listening to me at all?"

"No."

He sighed. "I asked if you'd like him to upgrade your maces." I shrugged and handed them over, only slightly unnerved by the insane glint in the man's eyes as he took them. Lloyd didn't seem to notice. "I forgot to ask the others for theirs. Will you go collect them for me?"

"Can't you do it yourself?"

"Well…" He leaned towards me and whispered in my ear, "That guy makes me a little nervous, and I don't really like the idea of leaving him alone with our weapons, so…"

_So he _did_ notice._ "Gotcha. Everyone?"

"Yeah."

"Even Kratos?"

"I guess…"

"But Kratos is scary."

"You didn't seem to scared of him this morning when you accused him of being the Muffin Man."

"No, but now I'll be alone and unarmed."

He sweatdropped. "I don't think he's going to attack you."

"He's still scary." Lloyd gave me a look, and I sighed. "Fine, fine…but I'm not going to spend forever trying to find him."

"Whatever." He turned back to watch the weapon-guy, who was giggling as he worked. I stuck my tongue out at his back and wandered off towards the inn.

It was quiet as I pushed open the heavy door, and I felt oddly compelled to tiptoe. Ignoring that, I thumped loudly up the stairs and peeked in the first room. Genis was asleep, so I closed the door and moved on to the second.

Inside, Raine was looking out the window and Colette was lying on the bed with her eyes open, looking almost annoyed, but not quite managing it, seeing as she was Colette. I walked over to her and poked her in the shoulder.

"Psst, Colette. You want me to take your chakrams to the weapon-upgrader-guy?"

"Oh, sure, they're on the table-"

"Girls!" We jumped. Raine was giving us The Look. "Colette, you know you should be resting, and Aya, you know you shouldn't disturb her!"

"Sorry, Professor," was our meek, synchronized reply.

She sighed and shook her head. "Well, anyway, what did you need, Aya?"

"Oh! I'm collecting weapons Lloyd for the weapon-upgrader-guy." My explanation was punctuated by a thump. Colette had fallen off the bed. "Do you want me to…?"

"Yes, yes, fine, whatever," said Raine as she hurried over to fuss over Colette. "They're in my room. Colette, how on earth did you manage…"

I nodded, grabbed Colette's chakrams, and went back to the room Genis was sleeping in to collect his kendama and Raine's staff. Then I left the inn and trotted back over to where Lloyd and the guy were. Lloyd wasn't paying attention as I dropped the weapons on the ground next to him, instead opting to watch in horrified fascination at the aforementioned guy, who was by now cackling madly, while he worked.

"I'll just find Kratos, then, shall I?" I said, not expecting an answer and not receiving one. I shrugged, then turned away, rubbing my chin thoughtfully. "Let's see," I muttered, "if I were a 4000-year-old sword-and-magic-wielding seraph with an attitude problem, where would I be…?" Having no experience with being a 4000-year-old sword-and-magic-wielding seraph with an attitude problem, I came up with nothing. "Well, if I were me (and I am), where would I be? The oasis," I answered myself, nodding.

As I walked, I looked around me, again observing how freakishly real everything looked. I reached my destination, and, sure enough, there was Kratos, staring pensively into the water, looking very much like himself with his pensive-ness. I stopped several feet away from him and stared for a moment. _Damn, he really is hot…_

He turned. "May I help you?" he asked, also sounding very much like himself with the slight hostility in his voice.

"GWARGH!" I jumped and pointed. "It talked!" At his raised eyebrow, I coughed and moved closer. _God, he's so effing hot…_

"_Yes?_"

_Hot and scary,_ I amended, staring up at him. He glared briefly, then rolled his eyes. After another moment, I commented, "You're really freaking tall, Kratos."

He raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"I just noticed. You're tall. If I were to look up at you too long, my neck would start to hurt."

"…What brought this on?"

"The bald guy."

"…What about him?"

"He's bald. Like, really bald. As bald as you are tall," I added.

"…" said Kratos.

"Man, only you and Rude can vocalize dot-dot-dot."

"…You're making no sense."

"Get used to it. Hey…" I paused. "I came here to talk to you or something for a reason, but now I forgot what it was. It's because you're tall. Stupid tallness. I'm so mad right now," I stated impassively.

"…" said Kratos.

"God, repeat yourself much?"

"…What?"

"Nothing. Never mind. I'm in an odd mood," I said, bemusedly realizing I now had him thoroughly confused. "I'll be going now. Bye, Mister Muffin Man. Ha, an alliteration. Like a lava lamp or something…haha…"

I turned and wandered back the way I came, leaving him to wonder what the hell was wrong with me. _I'm nutso, Kratty dear…touched in the head…completely mental._ I was, alas, in one of those moods where my train of thought had fully derailed and set fire to the already roundabout tracks. In these moods, I would say any old thing that popped into my head, and these were usually extremely random to anyone other than myself. There was a logic to it. Just not a very logical logic.

Almost running into Lloyd, however, broke me out of that mood. More or less.

"I take it you didn't get his sword."

"Hmm?" I blinked at him dreamily.

"Kratos's sword."

"Oh…oh yeah. No. I forgot."

"Forgot? How could you forget?"

"He's tall," I explained. I giggled. "Tall, dark, and scary. Haha. Kratos."

"O-kay," said Lloyd. "Anyway, he's done. Here are your maces."

"The finished product, eh…?" I took them. "They don't look any different."

Lloyd shrugged. "He added a Wolf's Fang to 'em and says they're stronger now or something. I don't know, and I'd rather not ask," he said, shooting a nervous glance at the now perfectly calm guy. "Oh, and I also got you these," he added, handing me something. "They're Leather Gloves."

"They look more like gauntlets to me."

He shrugged again. "I didn't name them."

"Hmm." I tried them on and flexed my fingers, somewhat startled that they fit my small hands. "Spiffy. It's like Link's gauntlets, you know?" I laughed lightly at his expression. "No, you wouldn't, would you? Hmm…they're kind of plain. Hey, you know what these need? A Triforce inscription. One on each, on the back of the hand."

He cocked his head to one side. "What's a Triumph Fork?"

"Triforce," I corrected, giggling. _Same as those fish in Windwaker._ "Here, I'll show you. It's a simple little design." I knelt and drew a Triforce in the dirt.

Lloyd looked at it, then at me. "I could etch that in those, if you want."

I beamed at him. "Really?"

"Yeah. And leather is really easy to work with when it's wet…"

"Yay!" I jumped up with a delighted "Squee!" and handed them over. "Could you do them right now?"

"Sure," he said, and took them.

"Yay!" I said again, and followed him into the inn. He went into the big room on the ground floor and sat down at a desk.

"Since he just made them, they're still wet, so I won't have to soak them again," he explained, and got out some carving tools from…somewhere. I peered eagerly over his shoulder as he started to get to work, but paused. "Could you not watch me?"

I snickered evilly and said in a creepy voice, "Do I make you nervous, Lloyd?"

"Yes. Now leave the room."

"Pah." I obeyed, but sat outside the door.

After a while, I heard an "Argh!" and some music. I ran inside to find Lloyd sitting at the desk and staring at the completed left gauntlet. "It…it seems to be coming from that," he said shakily, pointing at it."

"Huh." I wandered over. The music was familiar, like the background of a tune I'd heard a million times, but without the main melody, I couldn't place it. I picked it up and slipped it on, and the music stopped. "Huh," I said again. I slipped it off again, and the music came back. On, off. On, off. On, off. On.

"Weird," concluded Lloyd.

"My thoughts exactly. Hey, finish the other one."

"You sure I should?"

"No, but I wanna see what happens."

"Fine…but only because I'm curious, too."

"Good boy." I patted him on the head (much to his chagrin), and left the room again to sit outside the door. A little while later, there was another "Argh!" and more music, this time the main melody.

I knew what the music was now.

Lloyd was backing away from the completed right gauntlet when I reentered like it was the devil come to steal his soul. I came over and slipped it on to match its partner, and, unsurprisingly, the music stopped. Then I took both gauntlets off at the same time.

It was the Zelda theme.

I left them off for a while, grinning stupidly while I listened, until Lloyd said, "Okay, can you put them back on now? They're starting to freak me out."

"Right-o." I obliged, and as they came all the way on, I saw the Triforce insignia glow yellow for a moment before fading. "Cool."

I was in a video game, and had suddenly introduced something from a whole different series to that world. Whatever magic surrounded video game worlds must have reacted. _If I can get sucked into Tales of Symphonia, I can take a bit of Zelda with me._

I glanced back at Lloyd. "I think I know what's going on. Don't worry about it."

"What is it?" he inquired, only looking a little reassured.

"I said don't worry about it." Before he could probe further, I glance out the window pointedly. "Oh, my, it sure is dark out. Time to go to bed."

"But-"

"Goodnight." As Lloyd sighed, realizing he wouldn't be getting anything out of me, I made a mental note to ask Shiroko about this in the morning.

* * *

A/N: Again, not beta-ed. I'm in a bit of a rush to get this up, so...yeah. 

I've been extremely depressed lately, and haven't had much inspiration in the way of funny, so...again, yeah. But I just keep getting reviews, and that makes me feel happy! I feel loved. Thank you so much, everyone who reviewed!

Tell me if you find any errors.


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